Kitkat

I am more of an evolutionary biology/geology person. I'm looking at doing it from a long term geology area with evolutionary biology and possibly genetics with it. Are you looking to work at a museum in the future? I know I am thinking to, and am going to be trying to do some volunteer work at one this year, in the department that is a good fit for me. How was your experience volunteering? How was the the interview for RGGS? What do people think are the strong points of this program? I am very curious about other peoples opinions on this program.

Well, I still haven't tested to see which what type of software that they use. I don't think that they haven't offically opened the application yet, but I will check on that. But they also say "apporximately 500 words", so I am assuming that they allow more then 500 words. I guess that they just eyeball the length, and don't count it against going slightly over. The 10% rule sounds good to me. Do you feel like going through the editing process helped you write a better SoP, or do you think that it might have hurt you a bit, because you might have left something important out? Or was it just something that you had to do for that SoP?

A slight disadvantage, sure, but I hope not too much of one, if everything else in the applicants package says that the student would be perfect for the program, I hope not too much. If everything else in their application says that they can read and think quantitatively, without the time constraints, then why shouldn't they be good for the program? They have changed it so that it is less vocab dependent(although it still is somewhat dependent), by taking out the analogies and antonyms. So that is a step in the right direction. But now that leads us with more reading comp, which was the complaint in the first place, because people don't think that it is very good....

I feel like they are asking for a lot of information to be distilled into a very small amount of space. Its not impossible, but it feels very hard when you are trying to use it as one of your few ways to show them in a new way, why you belong in that program. thanks!

watching opera

It's nice to know that the programs are already thinking about this, but until we (and adcomms) see the actually outcomes from the first test, I don't know how much that will mean. I think that a lot of science programs will be depending on percentiles still. I think that they are going on the idea of the fact that it is still a comparison of how you do compare to other people.

I think that it depends on the program that you are in, the one that I am in is pretty small and the profs do love it when you walk up to them to talk about stuff. I'm not so sure about how it is at UT- Austin. It might be similar. Earth and environmental sciences seems to be generally good for this sort of approach(as long as you do your homework), if just because there are fewer students, and less competition to get into a lab.

So I am currently reworking my SoP for one school, and they have a limit of "approximately 500 words", and so far I am going over by about 50-60 words on it. This is Columbia, and I am wondering if anyone could give input on if I should be cutting it down a bit more to get it closer to the approximate limit. Or, since it is approximate, can I get away with having that much extra essay in it.

Does anyone here know about Sigma Xi? I know about it from where the school where I am, and I have seen it mentioned by some of the schools that I have looked at for graduate school. But it doesn't seem to be a big thing at my school, or at all of the graduate schools that I am looking at.

I think the other responders are right. She shouldn't be made to feel guilty for taking out loans by her adviser. If he didn't want her to be on loans, then maybe he should have helped her out more from the get go for alternative funding. As for her health, I don't think that is any of his business unless it is affecting her work, and even then, I think he should be more supportive, then putting her down. He took her into his lab because he thought she was capable, didn't he? As for her room mates loan status, definitely not his business. I don't see how it is really relevant to her work, or how it make it look bad. Everyone else is right, she should start looking for a new adviser if possible.

I agree that this is a good method for the test as well just in case. During the test they also give you a certain amount of breaks between the sections, so I would say use those to refresh yourself. To the OP, especially if you feel the same way during the actual test that you do during the practice tests. Use the breaks to distract and rest you mind, and I'm sure that you will do fine.

There are a few mistakes within the books, but honestly most, if not all, of the books that I went through had some mistakes, somewhere. I did some work with Barron's and will probably do more with Kaplan's Premeire the week before I take my test, I heard that one was good. But I worked with the one with the CD. I found it useful, but found the book itself more useful for me. For the mistakes, if your fairly certain that you did it right, and got the right answer, you probably did, and they just didnt change it to the right answer for the new edition. And thanks! I hope your studying goes well...

I can understand why Daisy Fields posted it in this way. It says in the supplement says that they are trying to get it so that the 25% will be in the top 15 points in their new point system. And based on that, Daisy Fields I think that your setup with the numbers are correct. But to Lox26, it does say that on the sample. It might be that it is because they were bringing that from the previous exam and that was the sort of spread that you got from that exam. They expect something different from the new exam, but won't put it into actual percentages until they have more data to work with. It might very well fall into the same pattern, but who knows. From the looks of it, the quant section does not seem that much different, but to me the verbal seems easier in the sense that there is less dependence on knowing large words that are used infrequently, and more contextual, and therefore will most likely bring the percentiles closer if not make them completely equal.

Maybe the comic artist cant do hands.

Is it that you have a hard time with the math part of them or is it just a general that question type problem? I've found that the Princeton Review Cracking the GRE book helped me out a lot with how to deal with the question type, since there is a lot of information to sift through, and a limited amount of time. So far, my score for the quant section has gone up about 60-130 pts, for the math section based on the powerprep tests. (This means that I am now hitting the wall of 800 which I am hoping for on the test since thats what the programs I am looking at want, crosses fingers).

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1 http://forlackofabettercomic.com/?id=35 http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LPML9N83Xd8/TIQdPeH-JOI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/dlPoJGK3JjA/s1600/calvin_geology.jpg

I think that you would likely need to get a higher score if you are also looking to get scholarships. At lot of them look at GRE scores to decide who gets what scholarship and for how much. So even if the scores you have are good enough to get you into a program, they might not be high enough to get you a scholarship. Money seems to be even tighter then spots in a graduate program from the looks of it.

My 2 cents would possibly to mention what about the program interests you and why you think you would be a good addition there, even if you do not have specific people there you plan to work with. I know that in certain fields, mentioning specific people is not necessary, and in some cases strictly discouraged, but in this case you wouldn't be doing that. Just letting them know, why them as opposed to some other program. Also, do the programs ask what you plan/would like to do with this degree in the future? That is something else that you can talk about.

Schools know that you are applying to other schools. It is a rarity, the person who only applies to one school. So I don't think that you need to block out the other schools. I have heard that on interviews, that people sometimes ask the question of what other schools you are applying to anyway, to sort of see how serious about that school. If all the other schools are more competitive then that school/department, and if you have a really good application, they might think that they are your "safety" school for you, and that you are not very horribly serious about that school. A way to get past that if it is a less prestigious or competitive school is to talk about why you are applying to that school in your SoP.

chicken skins

While I agree with the previous posters, that it is better to get it from academic sources and your ability to academic work, there are several other points to make. One, does your work or internships reflect what you want to do in grad school, show that you have good experience in the field that you want to go into and the like. If it is relevant to what you want to do in grad school, that is a point in the favor of possibly getting those. Also, would the letters from your supervisors have credentials that say they know what it is like to go through grad school, and therefore, might have a good idea if you could make it through it as well. The second, and more important thing in my mind at this point is what the programs that your applying to think. What I would suggest is emailing each of them, and see if they would find this acceptable. Some programs are more 'rigid' about this rule, they ask for three rec's from professors, and they feel like it gives them a certain perspecitive. But others are more 'flexable' and say that letters from other sources are good, as long as they somehow show that you are capable of doing the work.

I'll be taking the GRE a second time this fall, on advice of prof's in my department. I think that I did rather well the first time, and but the problem with my score was a low quant score, compared to some of the schools that I am looking at. So what they said was to take it again, and raise the quant score. It was much more about percentiles in specific sections then overall score that was the issue.

It says at that link that the scores will not be reported to you or any schools. "If you cancel your scores, they will NOT be reported to you or any score recipients and no refund will be made." So I am assuming that means that you make the decision before you see your scores. To other posters who were questioning what scores they see when you send out your score report, also from this link they say, "You may choose to send only General Test scores, only Subject Test scores or both scores, but you may not choose to have only those scores from a specific test date reported." And on the website, where they talk about score reporting they say, "GRE score reporting is cumulative. All test scores earned during the five-year period prior to the current testing year (July 1 to June 30) will be included in your cumulative score report and reported to each score recipient you designate." So basically, all of your General Test scores get sent whether you like it or not.

That is because it is not part of the forums of thegracafe.com . You can find them here . Good searching!

As an update to this topic I am looking forward to going to and visiting one of the schools that I am looking to apply to this fall. It just so happens that I am going to be in the state anyway to visit family and friends who are there, so it's not going to cost me much, since family paid my way down there, and I will be staying with them. So hopefully, I will like what I see, and it will help me connect with the faculty down there. Btw, jaxzwolf, thank you for the great advice before.